william w



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

W. R. RONBY 8v W. W. CHURCHILL.

FURNAGE PBBDING DBVIGE.

No. 584,561. Patented June 15 1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

WjR. RON'EY & W. W. CHURCHILL. PURNAGB FBBDING DEVICE.

YILLIAM R. RONEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND VILLIAM YV. CHURCHILL,OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO THE VVESTING- HOUSE, CHURCH, KERR daCOMPANY, OF ORANGE, NEV JERSEY.

FURNACE-FEEDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,561, dated June 15,1897. Application led May 16, 1896. Serial No. 591,811. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern: Y

Be it'known that we, WILLIAM R. RONEY, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, and WILLIAM W. CHURCH- ILL, of NewYork, in the county of New York and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Furnace-Feeding Devices; and wedo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specication.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces, having` reference toautomatic stokers or fuel-feedingdevices for use in that class offurnaces having a grate, to which the fuel is delivered by the feedingdevices, and also to other features of construction in furnaces, as willhereinafter appear.

The object of the invention is to provide a simpliiied and improvedconstruction in devices of the character referred to; and our inventionconsists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularlyTpointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be more readily under stood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical sectional viewof a furnace-front equipped with our invention, the section being takenon line l l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the furnace-frontand fuel-feeding devices thereon, parts being broken ont to reduce thewidth of the figure. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken online 3 3 of Fig. l, looking downward. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view ofthe hinged outer or front wall of the hopper. Fig. 5 is a bottom planview of the fuel-pusher. Fig. 6 is a de'- tail of the crank connections.

As shown in said figures, A designates the side wall of the furnace, andB the front wall thereof.

C designates the upper end of the inclined grate within the furnace, andD a stationary inclined plate commonly known as the deadplate, which isattached to the front wall B and extends inwardly over the upper part ofthe grate C. Above the said dead-plate is formed an opening h, throughwhich the fuel is fed to the interior of the furnace from a feed-hopperE, mounted upon the front of the furnace, the fuel entering through thepassages b, passing over thedead-plate D, and thence to the inclinedgrate.

The hopper E is provided with end walls E', which are attached to thefront wall of the furnace with a bottom plate E2, which latter isattached to the ends of the plate E', and at its inner or rear edge tothe outer edge of the dead-plate D, and with an outer or front wall G.The bottom plate E2 is shown as inclined downwardly and inwardly, but inpractice it may be more or less inclined, or even arranged horizontally,as preferred.

F designates a fuel-pusher mounted upon the bottom plate E2, which has areciprocatory motion along the bottom of the hopper toward and from thefuel-passage b,and which serves to thrust or force the fuel along thebottom of the hopper and through said passage as the pusher isreciprocated. Said pusher is provided with a lateral working face f,which acts against the fuel to force the same forward, and a top surfacef', which slides beneath the lower edge of the upper wall G of thehopper during the reciprocatory movement of the pusher. Said outer wallof the hopper in the construction shown is formed by a movable orswinging plate, which is pivoted at its upper edge to the end plates Eand rests with its lower or free edge close to the top surface f of thepusher. The pivotal connection of the wall G with the end plates hereinshown consists of a pivot-rod g, which is mounted to extend horizontallybetween the end plates E of the hopper and through suitable apertures cc therein, with which rod the movable wall G is connected by means ofdownwardly-opening hooks g g', secured to the outer side of the upperedge of said wall. ln order to afford proper rigidity to the wall G, thelatter is herein shown as provided upon its outer surface withintersecting strengthening-ribs g2 g3.

The pusher F is shown as made of box-like form, consisting of connectedtop, front, and

rear walls and transverse webs or partitions f2 f2 and f3. (See Fig. 5.)The partitions f2 f2 are located near to the end walls E of the hopper,while the partition f3 is located intermediate the ends of the pusher.The pusher is shown as made of cast metal of a single integral piece.

The devices for actuating the pusher F are constructed and arranged asfollows: H designates a rock-shaft which is horizontally mounted insuitable bearings formed in the parts of vthe end plates E which projectbelow the hopper-bottom, Fig. l, and is provided with gear-segments HH2, which engage racks formed in the lower edges of the webs orpartitions f4 f5 of said pusher. The rock-shaft H is provided with twogear-segments in the present instance, engaging the pusher in the mannerdescribed; but obviously said shaft may be provided with any desiredgreater number in case the width of the furnace shall require it. Therock-shaft H of the feeding device is driven from acontinuously-rotating shaft I, which is mounted in suitable bearings orbrackets I I', secured on the front of the furnace immediately below thehopper E.

Motion is transmitted from the actuatingshaft I to the rock-shaft H byconnections, as follows: The gear-segments H H2 are keyed rigidly uponthe rock-shaft H, and said shaft is also provided with a rigid arm, inthis instance shown as ,made integral with one of said segments H', andprovided near its lower end with a transverse opening or slot 7L.

J designates an agitator or tappet arm mounted loosely upon therock-shaft H, adjacent to the segment H', and having its lower endarranged to depend immediately behind the lower one of the segment-armH3, the latter being offset or deiiected laterally with relation to thegear-segment proper, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, to permit theagitator-arm to extend directly behind it. The tappetarm J is providedwith a screw-threaded stud J', tapped into the lower end of said arm andarranged to project in an upwardly and forwardly inclined directionthrough the slot or slots h of the segment-arm H2. The arm J is alsoprovided with a boss or annular shoulder j, surrounding the said stud,which forms a tappet surface or shoulder for engagement with the rearside of the segment-arm H2, while the stud J is provided at its outerend with an adjusting-nut J 2, preferably having the form of ahand-wheel, and the inner end of which forms a tappet-shoulder forengagement with the segment-shaped front side 7L of the segment-arm whenthe tappet-arm J is reciprocated in the opposite direction. The slot his made of sufficient width vertically to permit 'the relative movementof the parts hereinafter described without bringing the stud J intocontact with the ends thereof, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1.

K designates a connecting-bar engaged at its front end with thelowerpart of the agitator or tappet-arm J by means of a transversepivot-bolt j and connected at its rear end with a crank I2, formed inthe shaft I, the details of-said crank connection being of ordinaryconstruction and shown clearly in Figs. 3 and G.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that the pusher F willbe acted upon positively by each gear-segment and that it will bereciprocated backward and forward to an extent capable of control orregulation by means of the adj Listing-wheel J 3, the amount of lostmotion being determined by the distance between the tappet-shoulders orthe position of the said adjusting-wheel upon the stud J The action ofthe vibrating or reciprocating pusher is by its backward movement toallow the fuel to fall to the lower part of the hopperin front of itsperpendicular face and by its return movement to engage said fuelpositively and force it through the passage B upon the top of theinclined grate. Obviously the rate at which the fuel is fed into thefurnace is regulable by both varying the extent of the reciprocatorymovement of the pusher and by varying the rate of speed of themainfdriving-shaft.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the several parts ofthe apparatus are extremely simple and practical in construction and areso connected and arranged as to afford at once a positive feed motion,while entailing a minimum amount of wear upon the apparatus.

Obviously the details of construction may be varied somewhat withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention-as, for instance, aneccentric and eccentric-strap connections might be substituted for thecrank connection of the actuating-bar with the continuouslyrotatingshaft. XVe do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the precise detailsof construction shown except ash ereinafter claimed specifically.

XVe claim as our inventionl. The combination with a pusher provided l inits under side with a rack, of means for actuating the same, comprisinga continuouslyrotating crank-shaft, a rock-shaft having a gear-segmentkeyed thereon which enga-ges saidrack, a rigid arm secured to therockshaft, a tappet-arm mounted loosely upon said rock-shaft andarranged to act upon the arm of the shaft, a screw-threaded*stud uponthe tappet-arm arranged to extend parallel with the plane ofreciprocation of said shaft-arm through the slot in the latter, anadjustable tappet-nut mounted upon said stud, and a connecting-barconnecting said tappet-arm with a crank upon the crank-shaft,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a pusher provided on its under side with aplurality of racks arranged at intervals, of means for actuating thesame comprising a continuously-rotating crank-shaft, a rock-shaftprovided with gearsegments keyed thereon which engage the IOO with aCrank upon the crank-shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony that We Claim the foregoing as our invention We affix oursignatures in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM R. RONEY. WILLIAM W. CHURCHILL.

Vitnesses:

HENRY R. KENT, FRANCIS BLossoM.

